Serves: 5
Total Calories: 194

3 dried anorra chiles or 1 ancho or pasilla chile
1 red bell pepper, small
2 tomatoes, large, or 3 medium, fresh, ripe
5 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tablespoons almonds, whole, blanched or unblanched
1 onion, small, quartered
1/3 cup olive oil
1 slice white bread, country-style
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, or more to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Place the chiles in a bowl and add warm water to cover. Soak until soft and pliable, about 30 minutes.

2. Drain the chiles, reserving the soaking liquid blot dry with paper towels. If a milder sauce is desired, remove the seeds.

3. Preheat the grill to high.

4. When ready to cook, preheat a vegetable grate for 5 minutes. Brush the bell pepper and tomatoes with oil and grill until the skins are nicely charred, 10 to 15 minutes in all. Toss the garlic, almonds, and onion pieces with 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small bowl, then arrange these ingredients on the hot grate and cook, turning with a spatula, until each is nicely browned and aromatic, 1 to 2 minutes for the almonds, 4 to 8 minutes for the vegetables. Brush the bread on both sides with oil and grill until nicely browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Grill the soaked and drained chiles until crisp and fragrant, about 20 seconds per side. As they are done, transfer the grilled almonds, vegetables, bread, and chiles to a platter and let cool.

5. Remove any very charred skin from the tomatoes and peppers core and seed the peppers. Transfer the tomatoes to a blender or food processor and purée to a smooth paste. Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper, almonds, bread, chiles, bay leaf, parsley, vinegar, remaining olive oil, and salt and black pepper. Process until smooth, adding enough of the reserved chile soaking liquid to make a pourable sauce. Correct the seasoning, adding salt or vinegar as necessary.

6. Serve the sauce at room temperature it will keep, tightly covered in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.

Makes about 2 cups

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 5
Total Calories: 194
Calories from Fat: 151

More Recipes from the The Barbecue Bible Cookbook:
A Simple Harissa
A Simple Javanese Dipping Sauce
A Simple Tamarind Barbecue Sauce
Asian Pear Dipping Sauce
Basic Barbecue Sauce
Basic Chimichurri
Basic Vietnamese Dipping Sauce / Nuoc Cham
Bengali Mango-Tamarind Barbecue Sauce
Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce
Catalan Vinaigrette
Charred Tomato Sauce With Pomegrante Molasses / Khashkesh
Classic Teriyaki Sauce
Coriander Sauce
County Hot Sauce / Molho da Companha
Dry Chimichurri
Dutch West Indian Peanut Sauce
Elida's Honey-Guava Barbecue Sauce
French West Indian "Dog" Sauce / Sauce Chien
Garlic Sauce
Georgian Pickled Plum Sauce / Tkemali
Ginger-Plum Barbecue Sauce
Hoisin-Chile Sauce
Hot And Sweet Mint Sauce
Indonesian Ketchup / Ketjap Manis
Jake's Turkish Coffee Barbecue Sauce
Lemon-Honey Sauce With Garlic
Nicaraguan Tomato Sauce / Salsa Marinara
North Carolina Vinegar Sauce
Peanut Chile Dipping Sauce
Portuguese Hot Sauce / Piri-Piri
Preserved Lemon Harissa
Red Chimichurri
Red Mis Barbecue Sauce
Romesco Sauce
Tamarind Dipping Sauce
Thai Peanut Sauce
Vietnamese Apple And Shrimp Sauce / Mam Nem
White Miso Barbecue Sauce